People resettled by hydropower plants are waiting for compensation

Not yet granted "land title"

In early May, we met Ms. Vi Thi Lan (45 years old, Ngoc Lam commune, Thanh Chuong district) when she was taking care of the tea hill near her house. This is the only livelihood of Ms. Lan's family since moving from Tuong Duong to resettle. Although the care is hard, the price of tea is often unstable, and the family's income is not much. Therefore, for many years, Ms. Lan's family, like many other households here, has been waiting for the compensation for the difference between the land where they left and where they arrived.

“Almost every meeting and voter contact has people asking. But so far, there has been no sign of it. I don’t know if there is any. If there isn’t, we have to calculate it to let people know,” said Ms. Lan.

Tea hill near Ms. Lan's house. Photo: Tien Hung

More than 15 years ago, to get land for the construction of Ban Ve hydropower plant, 4 communes of Tuong Duong district were wiped out, 2,910 indigenous households were subject to relocation. Of these, most of them were allocated land by the government, establishing 2 new communes in Thanh Chuong district, Ngoc Lam and Thanh Son, to relocate households here. According to the reporter's investigation, 236 households later wished to migrate freely, so they were given compensation and support policies on land. The remaining 2,674 households moved to resettlement areas in Ngoc Lam and Thanh Son have not yet been compensated for the difference in land value between the departure and destination areas.

According to the leader of the People's Committee of Tuong Duong district, the main problem is that the resettlement areas in Thanh Chuong district have not completed the issuance of Land Use Right Certificates, so there is no data to calculate the difference in land value between the departure and arrival places. Even the work of dividing land and issuing Land Use Right Certificates to people has not been completed yet.

According to the leaders of Thanh Chuong District People's Committee, because the review and re-balancing of the entire agricultural land area that had previously been divided among households had not been completed, and because after the review, the actual land area that households were using was incorrect and much different from the previous land division records, the land division for the declaration of land use right certificates had not been carried out. After completing the land division and issuing the land use right certificates, the area between the departure and arrival locations would be balanced and submitted to the competent authority for approval.

Ngoc Lam resettlement commune. Photo: TH

Delayed compensation due to disagreement on the deduction plan

Similarly, in Que Phong district, in order to acquire land for the construction of Hua Na hydropower plant, in 2008, many households were also forced to relocate to resettlement areas. Hua Na and Ban Ve are the two largest hydropower plants in Nghe An province, with thousands of households having to relocate. However, 15 years have passed, and nearly 900 households here are still waiting for compensation for the difference between their departure and arrival locations.

According to the reporter's investigation, the reason for this delay is that 887 households subject to relocation under the project must be deducted. However, due to problems with the deduction calculation plan, it has not been completed yet. Specifically, the investor's viewpoint is to apply the deduction calculation plan for the total agricultural land at the departure and destination of the entire household. Meanwhile, the viewpoint of the People's Committee of Que Phong district is to apply the deduction calculation plan for each type of agricultural land (land for annual crops, land for perennial crops, land for aquaculture, land for forestry production, etc.).

The leader of the district People's Committee said that if applying the district's calculation plan, the total compensation amount that households receive is estimated at nearly 40 billion VND.

Hua Na Hydropower Resettlement Area. Photo: Tien Hung

To resolve the above content, the Provincial People's Committee has sent a document to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment requesting guidance on implementation. On July 12, 2021, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment issued Official Dispatch No. 3787/BTNMT - TCQLDD in response; on that basis, the Provincial People's Committee issued Official Dispatch No. 4850/UBND - CN dated July 14, 2021 assigning the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the People's Committee of Que Phong district to implement. On November 9, 2022, the Provincial People's Committee issued Official Dispatch No. 8891/UBND-CN on handling agricultural land prices between the departure and arrival places when implementing hydropower projects; in which, the Provincial People's Committee assigned the People's Committee of Que Phong district to base on the proposed content of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and relevant legal provisions to implement in accordance with regulations, not to affect the rights as prescribed by the people whose land is recovered and not to cause complaints and lawsuits to avoid loss of the state budget.

According to the guidance of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the method of handling the difference between the departure and destination will be implemented according to the method of handling the difference by deducting the total value of agricultural land to ensure compliance with legal regulations and consistency with other hydropower projects nationwide. However, the People's Committee of Que Phong district still did not implement it and requested the Provincial People's Committee to issue a specific document.

People in the resettlement area have been waiting for compensation for the difference for 15 years. Photo: Tien Hung

Talking to Nghe An Newspaper reporters, Mr. Pham Van Hoa - Director of the Department of Industry and Trade said that, in the face of many problems and difficulties in compensation and resettlement support for hydropower projects in the province, the Provincial People's Committee has recently established a Working Group to resolve them. On April 19-21, 2023, the Working Group led by the Director of the Department of Industry and Trade organized a field inspection and worked with the People's Committees of Que Phong district, Tuong Duong district and hydropower investors on the remaining problems and difficulties related to the Ban Ve, Hua Na and Khe Bo hydropower projects.

Regarding compensation for the difference between the departure and arrival locations of Hua Na Hydropower Plant, the working group requested the People's Committee of Que Phong District to coordinate with Hua Na Hydropower Joint Stock Company to develop a specific and detailed handling plan for each content for each group and each specific subject (subjects of land acquisition; subjects of non-land acquisition, subjects of forest land handling, etc.), and send it to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment for comments on each content before consulting with the people before May 20, 2023. At the same time, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment was requested to guide the Compensation and Site Clearance Council of Que Phong District to remove obstacles to soon complete the specific plan.

As for the households resettled by Ban Ve Hydropower Plant, the main responsibility lies with the investor of Ban Ve Hydropower Plant and the local authorities of Thanh Chuong and Tuong Duong districts who have not completed the relevant legal documents to comply with the provisions of law. After directly inspecting and working with relevant parties, the Working Group proposed that for households that have completed legal procedures related to land in Thanh Chuong district and are not subject to land on the flood level of the Ban Ve Hydropower Project, the Compensation, Support and Resettlement Council of the Ban Ve Hydropower Project should develop a compensation plan for the difference in departure and arrival for households. To be completed in the second quarter of 2023.

For households having issues related to Thanh Chuong district, it is recommended that the Compensation, Support and Resettlement Council of the Ban Ve Hydropower Project continue to coordinate with the Thanh Chuong District People's Committee to synthesize and plan to complete the plan. In the coming time, the Working Group will continue to work with the Thanh Chuong District People's Committee to inspect and urge this content.